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| Today's Route |
We awoke this morning sitting on a siding at Maribor,
Slovenia. We crossed the Hungarian/Slovenia border around midnight last night
and parked at Maribor at about 1:00am. We both slept well during our first
night on the train. I slept better than I had the previous two nights in the
hotel in Budapest, probably due to the jet lag I was experiencing.
Anyway, we have a very busy day on this New Year’s Eve. We
got up around 6:00am and got ready for the day. Around 7:10amm, we went to the
dining car and had breakfast. As the sun rose, we could see some snow on the
ground.
The train pulled out of Maribor and traveled north about 30 minutes to
the Slovenia city of Spielfield-Strass, which is on the border with Austria. We
sat on a siding for about 30 minutes before crossing into Austria. We soon
arrived at Graz, Austria at the foot of the Austrian Alps. Here we disembark
for a morning excursion. It is a bright, clear and cool day with the high in
the 40’s.
We boarded a bus and took a hour’s long tour of Graz. Graz
is Austria’s second largest city, next to Vienna. It is historically
significant and it is a university city with five universities. The city has a
population of 300,000 of which 60,000 are university students.
After the bus tour, we parked and started a walking tour. We visited the city
cathedral and several other spots, culminating in a pumpkin oil tasting at Royal Garden Jazz Club.
While at the Club, we were given the opportunity to visit their wine cellar, the oldest (600+ years) in the city. I enjoyed the pumpkin oil tasting so much, I bought a 0.25L bottle for 8.90 Euros. Both Gavin and I agreed we ate enough bread and pumpkin oil that we could forgo lunch when we returned to the train.
The walk through the city center was very quiet. They were however preparing for a New Year’s Eve fun run. We also walked past the Hofbackerei Edegger-Tax bakery (Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court) with its ornately carved, arched wooden doors and storefront. In business since the 14th century (at its current location since 1880), it is where Sisi (Empress Elizabeth) used to get her favorite pastry treat, a little macaroon covered in chocolate now known as the Sissi Busserel cookie.
Well, Gavin did go to the waltz lesson and was the “bell of
the ball”. I will try to post the video I made of him dancing with one of the
two professional dancers. At the end of the lesson, Gavin and his partner,
Hanna, received a well deserved round of applause from everyone.
I paired up with the other professional dancer. I never got her name but she was a doll. She grew up in Colorado Springs but has been dancing for 20+ years, the past three professionally in Vienna. She made me look good and I did not hurt her too much. When we first began, she said “for this to work, I am going to have to touch you and you are going to have to touch me”.
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| My partner |
After the lesson, we went back to the train and dressed for dinner.
We arrived at the gala in the Vienna City Hall ballroom around 7:30pm. We left at 1:30am on New Year’s day. Overall, we had a good time. Gavin never did dance, but then, neither did I.
By the time we got back on board, it was after 2:00am. I got a triple gin and tonic from the bar and we turned in for the morning.
Love it!!!
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